Persuading 5-Million Home Buyers to Invest in Energy Efficiency

Federal and state governments are deploying billions of dollars in an unprecedented push to weatherize America’s existing homes in order to save energy and create jobs. However, the programs piloted by the government during the past decade, and more recently by the utilities, do not yet come close to being able to meet these goals. America can no longer afford to measure program ramp-up time in terms of years, nor should the public have to spend thousands of dollars per house to market, administer, and subsidize a shift to the cleanest energy—efficiency—thought to be the cheapest energy available. Self-interest is the most powerful human motivator, yet it has been largely ignored as a tool to persuade households to invest in energy efficiency improvements that cost less than the wasted energy they save.